Weekly Shopping : A Better Way

Until I figure out a better way than my list-form for posting about my weekly shopping trips, I won't be posting details. It's just too time consuming to re-write my list with coupons and then go change the colors and all that mess. I really would like there to be some way to import parts of my Google document where I really keep track of it all.
I'll figure it out, but until then how about I update you on how we're doing so far with some totals.

Last year, 2010, was my first year using coupons. I didn't start until the Spring, so I am hoping to keep my 2011 totals below these by quite a lot!

I spent $2575 on groceries and household products in 2010.
I saved $2900 on those products by using coupons and shopping sale prices.
This gives me 53% savings for the year.
More than half off and I am a happy lady!

So far this year (since I haven't posted any weekly totals since, oh, October) we have spent $698.
On that we have saved $1485. This year's savings breakdown comes to an awesome 69% savings!
 If I compare that to the savings for 2010 as an average, we're about $160 below what we would have spent on groceries so far. We've saved $500 more than last year though which is a huge number!

I hope I can keep that up and bump my overall totals up by the 10% I'm seeing now. With the year starting out so well, I think we can do it. At the end of the year I hope to see our total spending under $2100 (our budget) and our savings skyrocketing to about $4500 or so.

This week at the store will close out April and I will start again posting my weekly hauls with list breakdowns. Maybe I might even post the shopping list before I go so that it can be helpful to others before they do their shopping too? We'll see. First, the spreadsheet has to start working for me. Then, we'll untangle the rest.

You can do this too, you really can. All you need is a little patience, a printer, and some commitment to make it all work. Thanks as always to Michelle (and all) over at I Heart Publix for all their hard work. I always say it, but it is always true that I would not be where I am with my savings if it weren't for her amazing and helpful blog.

Weekly Shopping : 10/28-11/3

Another week with plenty of great deals for donations! Whole wheat pasta was a money-maker this week and I got great deals on whole wheat pasta, Kraft sandwich shop mayo, and Rotel tomatoes that all went to the Bread of the Mighty food bank here in North Central Florida. I purchased a nice big cart full of food for ourselves too and considered it the start of our November shopping. I also considered a quick trip to the store last week (that I didn't write up - sorry!) part of November, too. I'm flexible like that. The sales were suited for our family this week all around and after two trips to Publix, I still had to pop in to Albertsons to take advantage of a B1G2 tilapia deal, inexpensive boneless chicken breast, and a couple of Collin's quick guilty pleasureTotino's pizzas. I don't think the Kraft cheese was the best price I've ever gotten, but I haven't had to buy cheese for months since it was going for almost free. I can't say when Cooking with Kraft will have more coupons available that will match with manufacturer's coupons so I had to just go for it. As long as I'm getting a better deal than full price, I'm a happy shopper! Same goes for the Aluminum foil I purchased on my
first trip - the coupons were expiring Sunday so I was glad to pay full price with a coupon for something I was completely out of at the house.

At Publix this week, I spent $75.45 and saved a total of $141.17. That's about 65%!